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I remember you talking about some laser giving you malar bags or something. Did a search but cannot find it. Anyway I have quite a few broken caps on my cheeks and would like to take care of them. Anyone know which laser treatment I would need, and is it the one that is so damaging/aging to the skin?
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Try to find a doc who uses an older (not newer--Cutera is the bad brand) VBeam. They work very well for broken caps. I prefer the type that does not cause bruising (one type of VBeam does and one does not). I prefer the one that causes no bruising. DO NOT USE IPL!!!
DCNGA has left the board and is no longer taking PMs. She requests that if you wish to e-mail her to use her direct e-mail address which is: laserandiplsupport@gmail.com
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I have the same concern with some small facial veins that cause a diffuse redness.
I've been wanting to do Laser Genesis. Is that the same as IPL? . . . DCNGA, did you have a bad experience with IPL?
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I don't know if Laser Genesis is IPL or not (try to google it). I created and moderate a board for men/women (approaching 100 members now) who have been severely damaged by IPL (fat loss, skin texture changes, and even systemic problems). The stories are scarily similar, over and over again. New members come on board and repeat the same stories I've heard or read hundreds of times before. There is a definite pattern but no docs will admit it (only behind closed doors). CNN is considering doing a story on this issue but whether that happens or not is anyone's guess. Erin Brockovich has been involved with a few board members as well, but the law firm where she used to work refused to take anyone's case due to supposed 'informed' consents that never informed of the side effects these folks have experienced. Also, these are FDA approved devices so impossible to sue the device makers. It all sucks.
DCNGA has left the board and is no longer taking PMs. She requests that if you wish to e-mail her to use her direct e-mail address which is: laserandiplsupport@gmail.com
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Thanks for replying, DCNGA. I bet it would be hard to find the "good" kind of laser still if it is outdated and being replaced with the bad kind. Or did I misunderstand? So basically, besides looking for the outdated laser (that might be hard to find) is there any safe way to get rid of broken caps on the face?
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Also, would you mind sharing the name of the board? I had IPL on one sun spot years ago and am curious about the negative things that can come from the use of this laser.
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Yikes, thanks for the info DCNGA. That is scary.
I did just one ipl a number of years ago. Felt like rubber bands hitting my face. I didn't notice any change either way. Thank goodness I only did it once.
I have done several mild fraxels, a few levulan/photodynamic treatments, and many beta peels through the years. It's so interesting what you said about ipl, because I've recently started wondering if any of the things I've done could have caused damage.--haven't noticed damage, but I'm still fairly young in early 30s. . . . It's hard to know what is truly GOOD for your skin versus what is the latest gimmick. . . . I think I'm sticking to my RetinA and hanging up the treatments for now.
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Click on one of her BUTTONS and you will find her blog and webpage. Talullah wrote:Also, would you mind sharing the name of the board? I had IPL on one sun spot years ago and am curious about the negative things that can come from the use of this laser.
Can hardly walk. Need hip replacement.
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http://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/cdrh/cfdocs/cfMAUDE/detail.cfm?mdrfoi__id=1291444Have people been complaining to the FDA? I don't know anything about the process, but there is a way to do it from reading this. I couldn't find a whole lot of complaints but I'm not sure of the manufacturers or words of how to do it... I would think it would be quite powerful if the family of the lady who died complained. One of the complaints I saw was based on an operator burning the hair on the back of her head from a fraxel laser because a part was unscrewed.
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There have been LOTS of complaints to the FDA but if they won't admit anything about sunscreen, they will never own up to what has happened with the cosmetic medical devices. If you click on the WWW at the bottom of my posts, you can see the support board. Be forewarned, it is depressing and scary to read these stories. I do not purport that this same thing happens to EVERYONE who has IPL but I'm never going to take that chance. My derm has a VBeam that is not new. He is conservative in many ways and does not go out and buy the 'latest and greatest' laser/pulsed dye machine that comes out. He's had his for four or five years. It worked great for me. The VBeams that came out in the last two years are the ones to avoid. Most docs don't buy a new one every year because they are sooooo expensive. This is why many docs 'push' these treatments to people whose skin cannot tolerate them, they need to pay for these devices somehow. Also, I think those that cause bruising (even though intended in some cases) would have the greatest potential to cause harm as they must be doing deeper (controlled) damage than those that don't cause the bruising. My derm did a test patch to make sure I did not bruise and we waited. When I did not bruise, he moved forward using that setting. I had great results.
DCNGA has left the board and is no longer taking PMs. She requests that if you wish to e-mail her to use her direct e-mail address which is: laserandiplsupport@gmail.com
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I read some of the IPL and other laser horror stories on the support board. Pretty shocking. There are countless websites with before and after photos that would lure people to this treatment.
I would be too fearful to try IPL on my face but am interested in freckle/brown spot removal on my back and chest. Do you think IPL is not safe ANYWHERE on the body? What other treatment would be better? My upper back is one huge freckle from my years of swimming.
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Thanks for the webpage directions, Miss J and DCNGA.
On another board, there is a girl who just got an XPL laser treatment on her face and on her hands. Her hands now have second degree burns all over them now! Horrifying. Obviously something went horribly wrong with her hands, but is the XPL one of the newer "bad" varieties of IPL? Why would her skin literally burn from it?
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The proliferation of these medical devices is nothing short of criminal. New devices do not have to have go through the full FDA approval process as they are 'grandfathered' in if they are materially the same as devices that were on the market in the 1970's. There were lasers on the market then, so anything that falls remotely in that category only goes through the 501k process. Therefore, lasers/ipls/vbeam/rf and similar devices are slapped on the market in no time. There's no way there's been long term human studies on the long term side effects. Some of these people have systemic problems that are eerily the same. VERY SCARY. For this reason, I don't feel IPL done any place on the body is safe. While you may not be one of the unlucky ones whom is harms, wonder if you are? I'm not willing to take the chance. I feel the same about Fraxel based on FOUR people on the support board and scores more on realself.com who've all had what looks like radiation sores to erupt on their face, neck, chins, etc. Most are scarred for life from it. I also know nothing of XPL. No way to keep up with the plethora of devices that come out MONTHLY. Try google. It's easy to turn these things up high enough to burn you. IPL can defintely burn the skin. The FDA is corrupt, doctors are lambs who follow the advice of greedy sales people, the device makers are protected by the FDA and the public is at risk from all of it. It all more than sucks.
DCNGA has left the board and is no longer taking PMs. She requests that if you wish to e-mail her to use her direct e-mail address which is: laserandiplsupport@gmail.com
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Chiming in with my own 2-cents: I had Gemini Iridex laser done on just two red caps on my face (each measured about a third of an inch) last December. They were gone after that one treatment, so I was happy with it. I threw away my camouflage makeup, cuz that's all I'd ever put it on! I also HOPE and PRAY that the 2 IPLs I had done in 2003 will not come back to haunt me. I had no fat loss, hated the "rubber band" sting (yeah, more like a red hot poker poinked on your skin).
I Bug U
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Glad to see you posting again, Bug. Hope your healing is coming along well.
DCNGA has left the board and is no longer taking PMs. She requests that if you wish to e-mail her to use her direct e-mail address which is: laserandiplsupport@gmail.com
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Thanks! It's great - so great! - to be back among the living. My healing is going pretty good. I have two raw patches of smelly, putrifying skin, one under each eye for good balance, that I am treating tenderly with diluted vinegar/water pats and Aquaphor mixed with Bacitracin. By this Thursday, the raw skin should seal over - so I'm told. And damn, I've got the calendar marked. Is it Thursday YET? DCNGA wrote:Glad to see you posting again, Bug. Hope your healing is coming along well.
I Bug U
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Almost Thursday, Bug! Glad to have your chirpy posts back on the board (well, buzzy posts, then)
I have had about eight IPL treatments over the last 10 or so years. I dare not think about what damage may have been done but I cannot see anything at this stage.
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Truly, this does not happen to everyone who has laser treatments or IPL. BUT, it does happen to some people. It has happened to people who've gone to top laser docs, not just a local medical day spa. It's getting anyone to recognize that it happens at all that is the challenge, no matter how many similar stories there are.
DCNGA has left the board and is no longer taking PMs. She requests that if you wish to e-mail her to use her direct e-mail address which is: laserandiplsupport@gmail.com
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